I'm an author and advisor who focuses on helping those doing good in the world. I call myself a "champion of social good." As a Forbes Contributor I cover social entrepreneurship and impact investing. My books on personal finance and crowdfunding draw on his entrepreneurial finance experience as an investment banker, CFO, treasurer, and mortgage broker in order to help people use financial resources to do good. Previously I worked on the U.S. Senate Banking committee staff and earned an MBA at Cornell.

Hand Up for Social Good Award Finalists; You Choose The Winner

Update: A great humanitarian friend has generously pledged $500 as a second prize for the Hand Up for Social Good contingent upon getting another 500 total votes by the end of February! Vote now!

We are excited to announce today via this post the ten (well, actually eleven) finalists for the Hand Up for Social Good Award. The finalists were chosen based on their mission and their impact from among dozens of nominees. Only organizations with less than $100,000 of revenue in 2012 were eligible.

You will choose the winner of the final award and the $1,000 prize from, well, me. You get to choose who will get the money by voting here.

Congo Leadership Initiative: Nate Houghton, founder of CLI, has created an organization that is working to “develop the next generation of leaders to be catalysts for peace and prosperity in the Congo,” he says. He notes, that in addition to being the poorest country on earth, “It is almost unquestionably the worst place in the world to be a woman, with 1,152 women and girls raped daily.” He adds, “Some say that Congo has the potential to be the next Brazil or India. We believe that it can be this and more. With skillful and selfless leaders, Congo has all of the tools to take its destiny into its own hands. This realization is what drives our mission.”

Friends in Need Animal Rescue: Kim and Karen O’Donnell were the most frequently nominated organization among all the candidates. The organization not only provides a no-kill shelter for traditional domestic pets, they care for a variety of more exotic animals as well. They seek out volunteers who have been victimized themselves, providing an opportunity for both humans and animals to be healed by the experience of learning to love and trust again. Kim and Karen have been operating the Friends in Need Animal Rescue for many years on a shoestring budget.

Global Outreach Alliance: Steven Dee Wrigley, the founder of the Global Outreach Alliance, serves people in Cambodia, Kenya and Israel with locally managed projects, including schools, scholarships, mentoring, micro-enterprise training, micro-savings and other efforts to help people break the poverty cycle. All projects are locally directed and developed with funding and other support from GOA.

PROViDE (Participatory Response Offering Vitality in Devastated Environments): Kristopher Young, founder, says, “PROViDE offers long-term ecological solutions to stimulate struggling economies in areas of developing countries recovering from disaster.” He says that the group holds that, “Participating in recovery and livelihood enhancement projects more effectually invests people in their own long-term recuperation.”

Radiating Hope: Dr. Brandon Fisher founded the nonprofit organization. Emily Smoot Perry, a spokesperson, says, “As a global problem, cancer kills 7.6 million people per year, and 5.5 million of these deaths occur in developing countries.” She describes the mission of Radiating Hope as, “to provide and update radiation equipment in developing countries, as well as to advance cancer care in those countries.” She also notes that, “Radiation therapy can cure approximately 45% of cancers. It can be the sole modality for treating many stages and types of cancers.”

Scottie’s Place: Paul Winter and Jo-El Wadsworth, founding directors of Scottie’s Place, say their mission is to “empower and educate children affected by poverty and conflict.” According to Eugene Oltz, “Scottie’s Place was founded in 1999 by the husband-wife team of Paul Winter and Jo-El Wadsworth as a special-needs camp for children affected by homelessness. By combining the therapeutic concepts of special-needs programs with the thrill of wilderness adventure, Scottie’s Place helps children regain control of their lives. Since 1999, Scottie’s Place has served over five hundred children from homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and disadvantaged families, providing academic and challenge-based programs for children from five states and Washington, D.C.”

Self Reliance of Utah: Bekke Robb, executive director, says, “Our goal is to prevent homelessness, improve relationships, educate the community and increase independence. Individuals are supported through coaching to develop life skills in household management, finances, transportation, employment and creating a safe and supportive network. Parent and adult sibling caregivers are supported by focusing on their needs through discussion groups and individual coaching.”

Students Athletes Values Education (S.A.V.E. Program): Kevin Melcher is the founder of the S.A.V.E Program. A spokesperson, David Melcher, says the mission is “to enable under-served youth to compete and excel academically and athletically at the highest personal and competitive levels through financial and educational support while striving to make competitive youth sports in Omaha/Council Bluffs an inclusive community.” He adds, “This mission is carried out by providing educational and financial support as well as drug and gang intervention programs to under-served youth in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area.”

The Senase Project: Founder, Christopher Hill Toone, says, “The mission of The Senase Project is to eradicate poverty through community development.” Focused in Ghana, this college-student-led organization is completing the construction of a school there this year. The U.S.-based leadership of this group is scattered around the U.S. pursuing a variety of majors at respected universities working together to make a difference in Ghana.

The Yonkofa Project: The founder is Gabriella Nanci. A spokesman for the organization says, “According to a United Nations report on international migration, Ghana lost over half of her highly skilled labor by the end of 2005. Ninety percent of these were healthcare professionals. With a population of 25 million, Ghana faces a healthcare crisis of immense proportions.” The mission of the Yonkofa Project is to provide access to health care to rural Ghanaians.

Thread LLC: The founder is Ian Rosenberger. Kelsey Halling, a spokesperson, says, “The mission of Thread is to transform trash in the poorest countries into jobs and useful stuff people love. Thread LLC was founded in 2011, and is focused on the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit to create opportunity for cleaner, safer, and healthier communities as a direct result of profitable business. Thread is headquartered in Pittsburgh, and currently operates in Port-au-Prince, Haiti but plans to scale this model to other locations as it refines its operations, identifies profitable markets, and develops capacity.”

It is important to note the time and effort made by our panel of judges to choose these finalists from among all of the nominees. The judges who helped me determine the finalists are:

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Hi Devin, Can’t wait to read (and Vote) about all these businesses working to promote social “good” and thanks so much for including my business Mia Amicas Globally in the honorable mention. It is truly an honor to be included in this list.

The S.A.V.E. Program is honored to be one of 11 finalists for this great award. It was inspiring to read the descriptions of the other 10 finalists and we congratulate all of you for the great work that you are doing. We wish all of the other finalists the best of luck. I know in my heart that all of our organizations, as well as the countless others like us around the world, are already winners for the difference-making work that we do each day.

I’m so excited to see Friends in Need as a finalist! “Shoe string budget” doesn’t begin to cover it. Karen and Kim are such good hearted kind people, and somehow manage to do so much with so little. Thank you for giving them this opportunity!